Margaret Power; “From a very early age, I had this idea about Puerto Ricanness.”: Interview with José E. López. Radical History Review 1 May 2017; 2017 (128): 46–61. doi: https://doi.org/10.1215/01636545-3857766

José E. López discusses his childhood as an impoverished peasant in Puerto Rico and his youth as a marginalized Puerto Rican in Chicago. He then explores how key political events and movements of the 1960s, such as the Algerian revolution, the development of liberation theology, national liberation struggles, and the idea of a black nation, which he read about in Mohammad Speaks, fostered his activism in support of Puerto Rican independence. The final part of the interview explores his involvement in the independence movement, the impact the FALN had on the independence movement, and why the Puerto Rican Cultural Center developed a pro-LGBT politics.